Shostakovich’s String Quartets are, alongside those of Bartók,
Villa-Lobos, and possibly Bloch, the towering achievements in
that art-form. They confidently burden the weight of examples
Haydn and Beethoven had set. And if Shostakovich’s symphonies
can be regarded as exemplifying his public face, the quartets
are a window into his more private side. Even if you don’t buy
into the largely Western reception of Shostakovich as the freedom-fighter
in musical code, with every symphony somehow having anti-communist
messages woven into every other movement, the quartets will reveal
a much more troubled and torn man than the symphonies would on
their own.

Just as it has
become the norm for every better orchestra to record a Mahler
symphony cycle in the last ten years, it’s part of the good
tone for aspiring and established string quartets to delve
into Shostakovich
cycles. After the pioneering Beethoven (Legendary Treasure),
Shostakovich (Regis), Fitzwilliam (Decca), and Borodin String
Quartets (an early cycle on Chandos Historical and a complete
one on Melodiya)
had completed their cycles, there was little to challenge
the primacy especially of the latter two until the Emerson
String Quartet darted into the relative void with their squeaky
clean, live cycle from Aspen on DG. Since then complete cycles
have been added by the Brodsky (Warner), Sorrel (Chandos),
St. Petersburg (Hyperion), Éder (Naxos), Manhattan (Ess.a.y),
Danel (Fuga Libera), and Rasumovsky Quartets.

One of the most
exciting prospects for a cycle of Shostakovich quartets these
days is the Israeli-Russian Jerusalem
Quartet. They have two recordings of DSCH out, so far,
and the leisurely pace seems to be beneficial to the project,
assuming a whole cycle is planned. Definitively planning a
complete cycle is the Mandelring Quartett from Germany who
have arrived on volume three of five of their multi-channel
SACD project. I have enjoyed them live
and on disc
– and in particular their innovative Brahms
cycle - coupled with neglected contemporaries like Dessoff - has piqued
my interest.

The first two
instalments of this group, consisting of the siblings Sebastian,
Nanette, and Bernhard Schmidt (violins and cello, respectively)
as well as violist Roland Glassl, have already picked up several
recommendations – promises of excellence that the third, which
includes String Quartets nos. 5, 7, and 9, seems to hold.

Serving as my
primary comparison for these recordings is the second Borodin
cycle – newly re-mastered and released on Melodiya and more
than ever my favorite for the emotional grit and grip that
they exude. The sound, formerly “good enough” is now very
fine indeed; the background hiss audible, but even on headphones
never intrusive – a definite improvement on the old BMG-distributed
cycle.

String Quartet
no.7, a sorrowful little number dedicated to the memory of
his first wife Nina Vassilyevna Shostakovich who had died
of cancer in 1954, is – in the inimitably translated liner
notes of the Melodiya release – “a more little of all Shostakovich’s
quartets. But there’s said a lot – and said newly.”. Indeed.
The opening movement (Allegretto) has a light flexibility,
deliberate elasticity with the Mandelring Quartett (3:34);
the Borodin is notably faster (3:19) with more anguished peaks.
The Hagen Quartett, whose latest disc includes this quartet
(as well as nos.3 and 8), is more like spun silver threads;
a perfection of individual voices.

The slow Lento
movement highlights the Hagen’s individual excellence and
separation again – whereas the Mandelrings sound a little
hazier. But whereas the Hagens are utterly gloomy here, catching
a grove only very late in the shortest of movements (2:46
with the Hagen, 2:52 with the Mandelring, and 3:34 with the
Borodin), the Mandelring is comparatively bright. The Hagen
Quartet seems to celebrate slacking dystopia and shapelessness,
the Mandelring finds more purpose. Neither could possibly
sustain the movement over three and a half minutes in the
way that the Borodin does, without ever dropping the musical
thread. Their take is not gloomy but steady – offering a constantly
moving pulse throughout, lyrical toward the end, and almost
unnoticeably slow.

Even the speedy
and wild(er) third movement – Allegro – has a dark,
melancholic, even lethargic undertone, a trace that all the
busyness on the surface cannot dispel. It’s not unlike the
8th Symphony, in a way, but a merciful 50 minutes
shorter. The Mandelring (5:11) buzz along with abandon and
the superb sound on this Audite disc comes to the fore, especially
where Bernhard Schmidt’s cello gets all the room to bloom
that it needs. Just one detail, a possible caveat: alone,
they sound pretty nice, even at the densest and wildest moments.
Cut to the Borodin (at 5:35 again the slowest of the three)
– and you notice the difference. The latter rip into the music
with more pointed accentuation and a gusto that seems to
put their poor instruments in immediate danger.

At high volumes
the Mandelring quartet sounds weighty and beautiful, the Borodin
shrill to the point of unbearable. Which of these two you
find a recommendation or warning in a Shostakovich quartet
will depend entirely on what it is that you want to get out
of these works. If you have made proper acquaintance with
them, you will undoubtedly have a preference already. The
Hagen (5:16), not unlike the Borodin, but with frightening
assuredness and accuracy, instead of frighteningly free-wheeling,
rip through the first three minutes like the half-demented.

Judging by the
Seventh Quartet, one might expect the Fifth Quartet to be
something slightly mellower in the hands of the Mandelring
Quartett by comparison with the Borodin’s version. Instead,
they bulldoze through the opening Allegro non troppo
with an intensity that rivals the Borodin every step of the
way. Only at their wildest moments – this time due to the
better, fuller sound, not because of lacking aggressiveness
– are they less shrill than the Borodin’s who have the more
delicate, even sweet, moments in the gentle, pizzicato-dominated
closing pages.

In String Quartet
no.9, the Borodin are at their most bracing. Perhaps this
has to do with the fact that - like Quartet no.6 and the Piano
Quintet with Sviatoslav Richter - it was recorded live. Some
additional background noise, more reverberation and curious
balances make the difference between Audite’s impeccable and
Melodiya’s raw sound far more notable.

Listen to the
third movement (Allegretto furioso),where the
Mandelring Quartett doesn’t gallop into this movement like
mad, as does the Borodin Quartet. Rather it starts as a graceful,
agile dance, replaced by sudden vigour and anxious terror.
The Borodin move from madly riveting to a brutal, metallic
harshness that disabuses the listener of the idea that this
might be the “Quartet for Children” that Shostakovich had
promised the Beethoven Quartet for their 40th anniversary.
Unless the same misunderstanding regarding “Toys and spending
time in the open air” occurred here as it did in his
15th Symphony – distinctly not a toy-shop symphony,
despite Shostakovich’s claims to that effect – the 1964 9th
String Quartet is in fact a different, new work than the one
he promised to produce with those words in 1952. You could
also consider a link between the reoccurring galloping spiccato
beat of the Allegretto to the “William Tell” quotes
in the 15th Symphony, but if the similarity is
anything but coincidental would be difficult to prove. When
it finally saw the light, Shostakovich dedicated the quartet
to his new, third, wife, Irina Supinskaya.

When anxiety and
strife give way to the agonizing Adagio, the calm deliberation
and the atmospheric sound of the Mandelring Quartet (3:03)
are every bit as raw and tender as the much slower Borodin
(4:04). Their concluding Allegretto is a strident highpoint
of this release.

The peaks and extremes
of the Borodin, not to mention the frequently abrasive sound -
which I find quite appropriate most of the time - make that cycle
stand out more and may be more immediately captivating or exciting.
But especially on repeat- and closer listening, the Mandelring’s
carefully considered, always unpredictable ways are a treasure,
not only for audiophiles but for all who want more than the “authentic
Russian” version of the Borodin, Beethoven, or Shostakovich Quartets.

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